<p>Hey guys, I'm looking for advice from students who have been accepted to "good" schools as in schools like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, CalTech, MIT, and others that are better than UCs. I was wondering how you guys wrote your essays and what you guys wrote about? Also, what kind of community service/math/science competitions you guys participated in? or any other extra thing u guys did to get into such great schools? I am trying to get into Stanford. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Well, my common app essay was 4 pages long, and was more of a creative writing piece. It got me waitlisted at Stanford, but it is still better than a rejection... I guess my point is that you shouldn't limit yourself to the unspoken "500 word limit" if you are a really good writer.</p>
<p>I wrote an autobiography about how I could potentially be the smartest person to ever live if given the chance to learn from the greatest professors in the world. Harvard liked it.</p>
<p>I got into Stanford, and I was just normal student. Do well on SATs, take the hardest classes, and do well in them. Do and lead things that you enjoy, and do it earnestly. As for the essays, make sure you start early and revise it throughout the weeks and months to make sure you have it perfect.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I did science olympiad, the AMC/AIME, NYS math league, and Columbia's Science Honors Program. No one activity is going to get you in anywhere in particular; take advantage of what's available to you and give your best to whatever you decide to focus on. i didn't apply to stanford but i did get into yale and harvard.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with pagEL60- the most important thing regarding extra-curriculars & volunteering is to do what you love. Plenty of kids volunteer just because it looks good, but if you're going to donate so much of your time, do it in a way that you feel makes an impact. I quit my school's NHS because I didn't feel like I clicked with any of the service projects, and instead I tutored adult Somali immigrants with a local program. I met some amazing people with truly
inspiring stories. If you haven't found that experience that you'll never forget, don't give up and keep looking. There is so much more to life than getting into Stanford. Live actively, and you'll get in as a side-effect. Just write honest essays that show who you are. I've never done anything just to decorate my resum</p>
<p>rszanto: 4 pages? Don't you think that's a little too much? Did anybody else exceed the limit? Do they actually count the words using word or do they just guess how many words you wrote?</p>
<p>Btw: this is the Yale forum :)</p>
<p>stanford: since you're on the Y forum, I'll advise you against heeding rszanto's advice. Yale's website language is clear. 500 words and they frown upon not being taken seriously. I'd bet rsaznto's essay pushed 2000. </p>
<p>"dont limit yourself if you're a really good writer": to that I ask, "who views himself as a 'bad' writer?"</p>
<p>Undergrad may be a little more lenient but I know that top MBA programs will penalize you for not following basic directions and acting like you're the privileged "special case". There's a saying: The thicker the file, the thicker the kid.</p>
<p>Ditto what T26E4 said.</p>
<p>The message I got when I visited Yale was, "good writers know how to be concise, and writing a novel just come off as arogant and ticks off the admin officers."</p>
<p>One place where you can safely go over the limit is recommendations. My S sent the recommended 2 and was deferred. People talk as if your application will be thrown in the garbage if you send more. His classmate who got in SCEA sent 4. (Not all from teachers: I think it is important that extras are from other aspects of your life.) We'll never know if it would have made the difference, but he sent an extra rec to all of his schools since then, plus an update in resume form, and has had good results.</p>
<p>I know it was a huge risk, but my logic was that if I spend the time to work my ass off for 4 years getting good grades, and spending $70 on an application, the least that an adcom can do is spend 5-10 minutes reading an essay. My test scores are low in comparison to the rest of the applicats, so I really needed to take a risk in order "make up" for them. However, I do realize that it could come back to bite me in the ass later on.</p>
<p>I also sent in 4 reccomendations as well. I guess I am just trying to do everything I can in order to show them who I really am...</p>
<p>rszanto - you think it's an issue of respect after all the effort you've put in, but think about how you feel when a teacher gives you a particularly long assignment on short deadline. It doesn't leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, and since you're looking for the admissions folks to feel w&f about you, it's an important consideration. Of course, you may have written the most brilliant essay ever seen by admissions, in which case you were right to submit it. But sometimes, just knowing it's four times longer than all the other ones makes it far less excellent than it might really be. Ultimately, it's a risky proposition, particularly on an application that is almost discouragingly rude about submitting things that are too long.</p>
<p>True... Although all I ask is to spend a few minutes reading. Even if it does anger the adcom, at least my application will resonate with them....</p>
<p>stanford: judge for yourself rszanto's logic. My concern is that the hope for "resonance" will lead to it being tuned out and a negative outcome.</p>
<p>I need to read reports for my job. If someone goes beyond what's assigned, it immediately gets clouded IMHO. </p>
<p>Good luck to all of you (U2 rszanto).</p>
<p>I guess you might as well disregard my advice. Rejected at both Harvard and Yale. No big surprise as I haven't cured cancer or AIDS in the past two years. Oh well, good luck to everyone else. Here's to hoping that Stanford uses the hell out of their waitlist!</p>